Nova Scotia to Launch LCV Pilot Project

HALIFAX — Twin 53-ft trailers could soon be rolling all the way from Halifax to the Ontario-Quebec border. Nova Scotia’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal announced on July 29 that an LCV pilot project could be underway as early as October, allowing LCV (double 53-foot semi-trailers hauled by a single tractor) on selected stretches of highway.

Under the pilot program, LCVs will operate only on the province’s four-lane 100-series divided highways between the New Brunswick border and Dartmouth’s Burnside industrial park. Strict operating conditions will be imposed during the test period, including restricting vehicle speeds 90 km/hour, limiting operation during unfavorable weather, and using drivers with a minimum of five years and 150,000 kilometres of tractor-trailer experience.

"LCVs will help expand business and competitiveness in Nova Scotia," says Nova Scotia Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal Minister, Murray Scott. "They will help increase Nova Scotia’s competitiveness with other East Coast ports, and boost the transportation industry in this province."

New Brunswick recently wrapped up a similar study of LCV use in that province, concluding conditions were favorable to their use on multi-lane divided highways. Permits applications for carriers wishing to use LCVs will soon be available from the NB Department of Transport, says Peter Nelson, executive director of the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association (APTA).

"We should have trucks running under permits in New Brunswick by the fall," Nelson told Today’s Trucking. "Now that Nova Scotia is looking at LCVs too, we should have them running across the region pretty soon."

LCV are seen by some as a boon, but a hazard to others.

The Port of Halifax stands to gain from the announcement. In the face of recently announced service cuts by CN Rail, port truckers will be able to double up trailers and regain an economic advantage over the railroads.

"We are pleased the province of Nova Scotia will be launching this pilot project," said George Malec, vice-president Business Development and Operations, Halifax Port Authority. "Many customers of the port, and especially those involved in transload, want to use LCVs to transport their goods to inland markets. This pilot provides options for our customers to grow their business through the Port of Halifax."

Naturally, concerns are being raised by some motorists about the longer trucks. In a recent web-based CBC News Halifax reader comment forum, respondents said they feared for their safety when sharing roads with bigger trucks.

Don Rockwell of Antigonish notes, "… These are very scary behemoths to meet on the road. I don’t believe they will adhere to the speed limit that are to be imposed on them so I don’t agree with allowing more bigger rigs on the highways."

Another respondent, Danny Lloyd of Halifax, questioned the economics of using trucks when trains are more efficient, "I do not understand the economics of truck transport; how can hundreds of trucks being driven by hundreds of truckers on publicly subsidized roads be cheaper than a single train operated by one or two people?"

"No, these monster trucks should not be on our highways. I could not believe it when I heard that some of these truckers throw urine-filled jugs out their windows, and now I can’t believe that we’ll have bigger trucks on our highways driven by these people," Lloyd wrote in the CBC forum.

Nelson dismissed the comments saying that not a single complaint was received about the trucks while the LCV testing was underway in New Brunswick.

"Look at the trucks we used," he said. "Those bright yellow Sunbury trucks stand out on a crowd. You can hardly miss them, but nobody seemed to notice the LCVs while we were testing."

LCVs are currently allowed to operate year-round in British Colombia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, and seasonally in Quebec. New Brunswick has announced they will be allowed on all of its four-lane highways this summer.

Qualified truck operators can participate in the pilot project by submitting an application to drive long combination vehicles. The vehicles could begin operating in Nova Scotia by Oct. 1.